Target affected by payment failure nationwide

(Reuters) – Target Corp said Saturday that it was working on a problem that prevented US customers from paying for their purchases.

The media reported that the problem had affected Target stores across the country.

"Our teams are solving the problems and we apologize for this inconvenience," tweeted bit.ly/2WKO1HY, adding that it would soon provide an update.

Target gave no reason for the failure and was not immediately reachable for further comment.

Customers used Twitter to complain about the crash under the #targetdown hashtag. Many users congratulated Target's employees for handling the situation well.

"The poor @Target," wrote a Twitter user with the nickname. "… I came in, they apologized profusely and handed me coupons. It's not the fault of the local employees, so be patient and kind. #targetdown. "

"In the eyes of my fellow employees, stay strong in this dark time. #targetdown ", another user tweeted.

A defect on a network device in June 2014 also caused problems for Target's payment processing systems, according to media reports.